PLAYGIRL magazine’s “Men of Enron” issue hit newsstands Tuesday, and five current and former male employees of the bankrupt energy trader shed all or most of their clothes for a 14-page photo spread called “The Rise of Enron.”

　　Playgirl asked the men to “show off their assets,” a week after Playboy invited current and former female workers to expose all for a “Women of Enron” feature in the August edition.

　　“We wanted to give the men of Enron equal opportunity,” said Michele Zipp, editor-in-chief of the 350,000-circulation women’s magazine. “Our readers like real men, real guys and why not help these guys who are down on their luck.”

　　She wouldn’t give exact figures for how much the New York-based magazine paid the men. But she did confirm their fees ranged between US$5,000 to 15,000.

　　Quite a few male employees answered the initial call. More than 50 men sent in photos.

　　The five men include a former Enron gas and oil production manager, a researcher with a master’s degree in library and information science, and a 23-year-old information technology specialist Enron grabbed straight out of high school.

　　The “Menron,” as one Playgirl staffer dubbed them, were captured in business attire and briefs and ties on the first pages of the feature. Those were followed by several pages of fully nude photos.

　　“If someone is going to offer me some money for the way I look, over which I have some control, then I’m all the better for it,” said Ronald Williams of his decision to appear nude.

　　The 35-year-old Houston native, a former competitive intelligence specialist in Enron’s broadband unit, told Reuters he has been working four jobs to support himself since he was laid off when Enron filed bankruptcy last December. Williams, who is single, said the money helped him decide to pose.

　　Christopher Figueroa, a 34-year-old New York native who worked in the natural gas trading unit, said he was the only one of the five “who didn’t do the full monty.”

　　Figueroa said he declined to take it all off for personal and professional reasons.

　　“They would have paid me more, but money wasn’t going to make me alter my principles,” he said in an interview.

　　Neither Figueroa nor Williams would say how much they got for shedding their clothes.

　　Playboy, the flagship unit of Playboy Enterprises, has never shied from running pictorials of women involved in scandals. Paula Jones, who sued former U.S. President Bill Clinton on charges of sexual harassment, took it off for the magazine.

　　Playgirl, published by privately held Blue Horizons Media, has always billed itself as the female answer to Playboy. The two magazines are not related.

　　(SD-Agencies)